


Ruby

by januarylily



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-09-19 06:17:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9422216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/januarylily/pseuds/januarylily
Summary: He's fast and she's weird. Abigael Allen, twin of Barry, also finds herself with new abilities following S.T.A.R. Labs' Particle Accelerator explosion. Together with Barry, she finds herself kicking ass, taking names, and protecting Central City from friends and foes alike.





	1. Hello World

It was quiet. Too quiet. The only sounds in the room came from the electricity surging through the room and the frequent taps of a pencil against the desk. With a sigh, a young brunette woman dropped her pencil and tied her hair up in a messy bun before she lazily leaned back in her swivel chair. Well..technically, it wasn't her swivel chair. The chair belonged to the Central City Police Station crime lab, the only quiet place she could find to work.

Abigael, better known as Abbi, was working hard to break into the world of criminal profiling and was working as an independent consultant for the police. She knew that the only reason she was ever utilized in the department was because of her foster father, Joe. Since then, she tried very hard to prove her worth-that she was more than just Joe West's foster daughter or the poor daughter of convicted murderer Henry Allen. No, she was bound and determined to be more than that.

Shuffling through the papers in the case files proved to be worthless. Trying to predict the Mardon brothers next move seemed impossible. It always seemed like every heist they pulled, they managed to do it perfectly. Predicting Leonard Snart's next move wasn't any easier. The fact that they had hired her on these cases told her that the department was desperate for help, but it almost seemed like they were setting her up for failure this time.

Slowly, Abbi rubbed at her eyes in frustration. A knock came at the door. Abbi looked up to find a familiar face leaning against the doorframe. "Knock, knock," Joe West said with a small smile spreading over his face.

"Hey, Joe," Abbi sighed.

Joe took several steps inside the lab, examining his foster daughter as if he would a crime scene. He stopped in front of the desk and cocked his head to one side. "Hey, Abbs. You look like you could use some sleep."

Abbi shook her head and unconvincingly smiled. "Thanks for the deduction, Detective."

Picking up the pencil she had discarded earlier, Joe pushed her papers around on the desk. He then looked over his shoulder at their surroundings. "You could also use your own office."

"That would involve me renting an office. Renting an office would require me to make some money. I can only make money when I solve these hopeless cases. So, to summarize, I'm screwed."

"Nah, you'll find your footing. I know you will."

"How do you know?"

"Because you're Abigael Allen and I have faith in you."

"That makes one of us." Abbi rested her elbows on the table and placed her head in her hands, looking up at Joe like she did countless times as a child. He smiled down softly at her. Despite how great he knew his foster daughter to be, he also knew that she always felt inferior to others. He knew that she never felt like she was as smart as Barry. He knew that she felt like she wasn't as good with people as Iris. He knew that Abbi always felt like she was second best. He knew almost everything there was to know about his foster daughter and this was one of those times where she just needed someone keep her from going to that place.

Joe walked over and grabbed a three-legged stool and pulled it beside the desk. He sat down and folded his arms across his chest as he looked out the window toward S.T.A.R. Labs which beaconed in the distance. "You didn't want to go to the particle accelerator thingy with Barry and Iris?"

Abbi sighed. "Barry told Iris that I already had plans."

"Did he now?" Joe chuckled as he looked at her knowingly. They both knew that Barry had a thing for Iris-he always had. It seemed like the only person who didn't know about Barry's crush, was Iris. But for as naive as Iris was about the situation, Barry was just as naive about Joe and Abbi knowing about his crush. Joe rubbed at his chin. "You know, you could have just said that your plans fell through."

"Yeah, but then I would have been forced to spend the evening with my brother acting like an idiot. I can only handle so much of that." Abbi smiled up softly at Joe. "I love him, but sometimes…"

Joe shook his head. "Yeah, you gotta point there. But you know, he says the same thing about you."

"Must be an Allen trait." Abbi chewed her bottom lip nervously, careful not to look at Joe and betray her inner thoughts.

But Joe knew her better than that. Joe knew her thoughts had drifted to her father...her biological one. He knew the fact that her father had been imprisoned when she was a child had taken a big toll on her...on both Abbi and Barry. What happened to them-their mother murdered, their father convicted-it was something a child should never have to go through. Never. And it was those demons that continued to haunt Abbi.

Joe reached over and placed his arm on Abbi's shoulder. "Why don't you call it a night, Abbs?"

"I need to work these cases."

"Yeah, but maybe a refreshed pair of eyes is all it needs."

"Does that work for you?"

"Would you believe me if I said yes?"

"No."

"Then no. Some of these cases keep me up half the night tossing and turning, but they are a little less taxing on the soul with some sleep. Trust me, I've been around the block a time or two."

"Just a little longer, Joe, and then I'll go home. I promise."

Joe West tussled Abbi's hair. As often as he heard those words from any of his children, he knew better than to actually believe them. He then stood up and walked away from her. Stopping just short of the door, he looked over his shoulder at his daughter, foster or not, she was his daughter. Abbi was chewing on her pencil, a nasty habit she had never broken. "I wouldn't worry too much about the Mardon brothers. Barry gave us a tip this morning. I'm gonna go check out the last possibility now."

Abbi sighed and dramatically collapsed onto the desk. "Really? And no one thought to tell me? Gah! I suck at this!"

"You don't suck, Abbs. You're just green. You know, plants are green…"

Abbi slapped the palm of her hand against her forehead. "Joe, I love you, but please, I beg you, not another metaphor for life." Holding his hands up in defense, Joe walked out of the lab chuckling to himself.

Once he was gone, Abbi looked around to make sure no one was looking before she pushed herself in the chair to the other side of the room. Sure, it wasn't the most mature thing to do, but she really wanted to listen to some music. She pushed the button on the radio and Barry's go-to pop music station blared from the speakers. Abbi quickly reached for the knob and turned the volume down before she began searching for another station. Settling on a classic rock station, she then pushed the chair back to the desk and began to work.

Abbi's eyelids began to grow heavy as she worked. She widened them as far as she could, hoping that by doing so, it would keep her focused. It didn't help. She rubbed at her tired eyes and looked down at the desk. Just for a minute or two, she told herself. No one would know. So, slowly, she rested her arms on the table and cradled her head on them, quickly falling asleep.

More than a few minutes must have passed because next thing she knew, her brother, Barry, was shaking her awake. "Abbi, earth to Abbi."

Abbi's eyes slowly opened and she blinked several times trying to take in her surroundings. She looked around somewhat puzzled. Why was she in her brother's lab? Where was the music she had been listening to? All of a sudden it hit her like a ton of bricks. Her head quickly flew up. "Whattimeisit?" she said as if all the words were on.

Barry cocked an eyebrow at his sister. "What was that?"

"What. Time. Is. It?" She carefully enunciated each word this time.

"Clock. There." Barry responded, mimicking his sister's inflection as he pointed toward the clock on the wall.

The Allen girl looked up at the clock and squinted her eyes, trying to focus. She blinked several times. "It's still night…"

"You probably could have figured that out from the position of the sun outside. It isn't there."

"Well, technically…"

Barry leaned against the front of the desk and looked directly at his sister. "You weren't really thinking of correcting me by telling me that the earth had just rotated on its axis to the point that we are turned away from the sun, were you?" He cocked an eyebrow at her, waiting for her response.

Abbi rolled her eyes and decided to change the subject. "I thought you were supposed to be at S.T.A.R. Labs with Iris for nerd time."

Barry sighed, "We were there. But some guy stole Iris' laptop." Abbi cocked an eyebrow, knowing it wasn't the full story. Knowing the expression well, Barry groaned and continued. "So, we were late and missed a decent spot in line. But Iris really is filing a police report with Detective Thawne."

"You mean, Detective Pretty Boy," Abbi smirked at her brother. She had definitely heard Joe call Eddie Thawne that a time or two-and Abbi had to admit that he was right.

"Does everyone but me know about that?" Barry grunted as he threw his hands up in exasperation before shaking his head and folding his arms across his chest.

"Apparently, but Joe does have a point-Thawne is quite pretty."

The Allen boy quickly covered his ears with his hands. "No. No. No. I don't want to hear that from you."

"Real mature, Barry."

"Shut up, Abbi."

"Why don't you?"

"Because the nameplate says Barry Allen not Abbi Allen, meaning this is my lab-not yours. My rules, not yours."

Abbi pretended to act affronted, but truth be told, it wasn't the first time the Allen siblings had this conversation. Barry shook his head and Abbi smiled at him. She then stood up and began gathering her papers. "I should probably head home. Joe was right, as usual. I'm not accomplishing anything here."

"Why don't you wait a few minutes and then I'll walk you home," Barry offered. "I don't want you walking alone out there."

"I'm a big girl, Barry."

"But you'll always be my little sister."

This time it was Abbi who cocked an eyebrow at her brother. 'You do remember that I am older than you by eleven minutes, right?"

Barry smiled at his sister. "Yeah, I know, but you're shorter than me-making you my little sister." Abbi rolled her eyes at her brother's logic as he laughed at her. But she did relent to him. She sat back down on the chair as Barry walked to the TV and flipped it on. The newscaster on the TV mentioned how the particle accelerator was now up and running.

Abbi looked out the window toward S.T.A.R. Labs. "Doesn't look like much," She said with a shrug.

"It's going to change the future," Barry said in a rather clipped tone because he had already said similar things hundreds of times before. "We will be able to learn so much from this. The untapped knowledge could be infinite."

It was then that Abbi smirked at her brother. She already knew this, but sometimes, it was fun just to mess with him. It seemed that sometimes he took things too seriously. Sometimes, he just needed to lighten up. Then again, there were other times when it seemed like he just needed to grow up.

Barry walked over to the map of Central City he had hanging from his bulletin board. He tugged it down so that it rolled up to reveal everything he had collected on their mother's murder. All the newspaper clippings framing their father. Red string tying things together. Random notes he had scribbled. Seeing it made Abbi choke up a little. She knew it was there, but she didn't like looking at it as often as Barry did. No, it hurt too much knowing that there was practically nothing she could do…just as there had been nothing she could have done that night.

~*~ Flashback~*~

"Abbi, Abbi, wake up," Barry whispered in the dark as he gently shook his sister, who had fallen asleep beside him while he read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone out loud to her as their bedtime story. He had let her stay there, but right now, he needed her to wake up. He pushed her a little more forcefully. "Abbi," he groaned.

"Five more minutes," Abbi grumbled.

"No. Now." Abby opened her eyes to see Barry looking at her frantically. "Look!" he said pointing at the fish tank in his room. The water and fish were beginning to rise out of the tank and float there-something scientifically impossible, according to the laws of gravity.

"Barry, what are you doing?"

"It's not me," he insisted. Abbi's eyes widened in horror when a blood-curdling scream came from downstairs. The twins looked at each other, both thinking the same thing: Mom.

Barry was the first one out of bed. Abbi jumped out of the bed and ran to her brother. She tightly took hold of his arm before he led her out of the bedroom and toward the stairs. Terrible whirring and whooshing noises joined the screams as they inched further downstairs. The closer they got to the bottom of the stairs, the tighter Abbi's grip became on Barry's arm.

When they came to the final landing of the staircase, red and yellow lights flashed in the living room, circling their mother who was on her knees screaming. "Mom!" Barry shouted as he took off in a sprint toward the living room. Abbi, still holding onto her brother was dragged right along with him. They twins came to a sudden stop just outside the living room as their mother pleaded with them to stay away.

The bright flashes of light hurt Abbi's eyes. She didn't know what was going on and if this was enough to terrify her mother...it was enough to terrify her. Abbi pressed her face to Barry's shoulder, not wanting to look, but not wanting to be alone. Seconds later, their father ran onto the scene. He forced himself between Barry and the lights, shielding the twins. Little Abbi tripped over Barry's leg and fell to the plush carpet as Henry Allen shouted for his wife.

Henry then turned toward Barry. "Run, Barry, run." Barry turned to go and then suddenly, he was gone. Abbi lay there on the floor, her eyes wide. What had just happened? "Abbi!"

In the blink of an eye, Abbi no longer found herself in her house. No, she was in the middle of the street staring up at a masked man in a red suit. Was he going to kill her? Where was Barry? Where were her parents? Abbi opened her mouth to scream when the masked man put his hands up, "Don't scream. Please don't scream. I hate it when you scream-I mean when you...people scream. I hate it when you people scream." His gloved hand covered her mouth. "I'm only doing this because I was-uh-told to do this. You know what, forget everything I just said, but remember this: you are stronger than you know Abbi Allen."

In another flash, she was moving again and this time she found herself in the middle of a different street, lying at her brother's feet. The man in the mask and the lightning were gone. Barry helped Abbi to her feet and together, they ran back home to find out just how much their lives were going to change.

~*~End Flashback~*~

Abbi stood up and walked over to where Barry stood. She rested her head against his shoulder and sighed. "Sometimes, it seems like only yesterday."

"And others like a million years ago," Barry responded. "I just want to solve this. Dad didn't do it."

"You don't have to tell me. I was there that night too."

"Sorry, I'm just so used to no one believing me. Sometimes I forget that you're the only one who does."

The sound of horns blaring came from the television. Both Barry and Abbi turned to see what was happening. The news reporter was now reporting that something had gone terribly wrong at S.T.A.R. Labs. That the weather had caused something to malfunction and people were being asked to evacuate.

"Maybe it's a good thing you didn't get in after all," Abbi commented as she and Barry moved directly in front of the TV. The Allen girl stood there with her arms crossed when suddenly the TV went black. "What, the hell," she commented. Abbi slapped at the screen before pressing the power button. Nothing happened.

Then, in the distance, a bright light shot straight up into the dark sky as boom ricocheted through the air, causing beakers in the lab to rattle. Abbi couldn't take her eyes away from what was happening. It all seemed to be happening so fast. The beam of light seemed to explode and then move outward, while the tall pillar from S.T.A.R. Labs remained. "Ho-ly shit," Abbi said aloud, blinking slowly.

Barry quickly turned and ran for the open skylight, which was allowing the rain to come into the lab. He pulled on the chains, but it wouldn't budge. "Abbi! I need your help," he grunted.

"Maybe you shoulda paid a little more attention in gym class," Abbi quipped as she walked over to her brother. Barry didn't find her joke funny, so he didn't respond. Abbi rolled her eyes and pulled on the chain with Barry. One of the open windows managed to close, but that was when everything went to hell.

"Abbi," Barry whispered as he looked around his lab, the liquid in every open beaker and bottle seemed to defy gravity...just like it had when they were children.

Abbi's heart stopped beating for a moment, "Not again," she whispered as she looked at her brother. Then, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Abby placed one of her hands on her brother's arms, while still holding onto the chain with the other hand. Barry looked up. Abbi followed suit. A bolt of lightning shot toward them, but there was nothing they could possibly do to move. The thing to do was watch their imminent deaths approach. The lightning broke through the glass, causing it to shatter over the Allen twins. There was a blinding flash and then everything went dark.


	2. The Life Before Her Eyes

The ambulance to a stop in front of the hospital. A second ambulance pulled in second behind. The Allen twins were both in critical condition and were in desperate need of being saved. In the first ambulance, Abbi lay unconscious as the team of paramedics tried to stabilize her. The young woman's heart rate was unnaturally slow and her temperature was below average. Blankets covered Abbi as the team slowly pulled her stretcher from the ambulance and carefully lifted it to the ground. It was then a mad dash into the emergency room.

Doctors rapidly approached Abbi as she was being pushed inside. "What the hell happened to her?" one of the first doctors to reach the young woman asked.

"Struck by lightning, as far as we can tell," one of the paramedics responded. "Both she and her brother. Never seen anything like it before. I've never known lightning to strike twice before."

"It doesn't."

Suddenly, Abbi's body began to jerk. Her eyes rolled toward the back of her head and what looked light red sparks began to emit from her hands. For a moment, the stethoscope on the doctor's neck lifted in the air. But just as quickly as things had happened, they stopped. Then, the alarm began to beep. Abbi was crashing. The doctors were so focused on saving the young woman's life, that they hadn't noticed what had happened.

The team quickly peeled off into the first available room while the team with Barry pushed past them to find the next room. Both teams worked quickly and efficiently to try and save the Allen twins, yet the entire tire it felt like an uphill battle they would never win.

Three weeks later. . .

Both Allen twins were seemingly stable...or as stable as the doctors could get them. Honestly, the condition of the Allen twins baffled the doctors. They had never seen anything like it before, nor did they know how to properly treat either Allen. Just when one seemed to be doing better, the other one seemed to go downhill. Yet, both twins remained unconscious. Things were hard enough for the doctors, but they were even harder for the Wests.

Joe and Iris were the Allen twins constant companions. Joe had hardly left the twins alone since they had arrived. He had even requested that they be placed in the same room so that he was able to keep an eye on them both. To be honest, Joe felt like a failure. He had promised to take care of them both-and yet, here they were, both of them in the hospital. It was every parent's worst nightmare-to feel like a failure to one's children. Even if Barry and Abbi weren't biologically his, he sure as hell considered them his children and his heart broke every time he looked at his shortcomings with them. Why hadn't he been more convincing in advising Abbi to go home? If he had been, Abbi would have been home and safe. Why had he allowed Barry to go to S.T.A.R. Labs? If he hadn't, Barry would have gone home early and been safe.

Iris knew that her father carried that burden with him, but it seemed that no matter how much she tried to convince him otherwise, he wouldn't buy it. In fact, Iris herself felt a bit guilty over the matter. If she hadn't been so concerned about her dissertation being stolen, then she and Barry would have gotten inside, and then they wouldn't have ended back up at the police station.

While in fact, it was neither Joe nor Iris' fault, they both carried that burden. The Allen twins had become such an intricate part of their lives, that it truly felt like their family had been ripped in half...with the likely possibility of it never becoming whole again. Yet, it was a reality neither Iris nor Joe was willing to accept.

Joe sat in one of those uncomfortable hospital recliners he had placed between the twins' beds, so he could keep an eye on them both. He watched them almost as intently as one watched a baby, not wanting to miss anything important. Yet, there were times he couldn't help but doze off. Joe hadn't had a good night's sleep in three weeks and constantly supervising the Allen twins wasn't doing him any favors.

The door gently swung open to reveal Iris. She carried a cup of coffee for her father. Iris took a few steps before handing the coffee to her father. She suggested that he should go home. But in typical Joe fashion, he said he couldn't do it until Abbi and Barry were home.

Suddenly, Barry jerked forward and began to seize. Joe dropped the cup of coffee in his hand and ran for the door as Iris rushed to Barry's side. "They said he was stable," Iris cried as her hands flew over her mouth. Her father came to her side and wrapped an arm around her as the doctors and nurses ran into the room.

"Move!" the doctor shouted as he pulled Joe and Iris out of the way. "I need room to work."

Joe pulled Iris back so that they stood on the other side of Abbi's bed, watching the baffled doctors try to work on Barry. He was seizing, yet his heart rate monitor had flatlined. It shouldn't have been possible. Iris reached out and grabbed Abbi's hand. "It's Barry," Iris whispered. Iris' eyes were on Barry that she didn't notice the red streak slowly swirling up her arm.

Then, just like Barry, Abbi too began seizing. Iris screamed. One of the nurses quickly pushed the Wests from the room. "Don't go back in until you're told," the nurse told them before she quickly ran for more help.

Iris' hands flew over her mouth as she slowly backed up toward the wall. "Baby," Joe whispered as he reached a hand out toward her. But Iris quickly shook her head and then took off in a sprint down the dark hallway. It was all too much for her to handle. Hell, Joe didn't even want to be there. How he wished he could just run away, but he needed to stay there. He needed to stay for Barry and Abbi.

More nurses and doctors quickly pushed past Joe and into the room. He watched as two teams worked on his children. He could tell from the pained expressions on their faces that things weren't going well...that they didn't have a freaking clue what was going on or why it was happening. Joe anxiously rubbed at his face while he nervously stood there…things were completely out of his control.

In the poorly lit hospital, Harrison Wells rounded the corner and wheeled closer toward Joe West. The man was too preoccupied with what was going on inside the hospital room to notice him. Wells stopped a few yards away and watched the man for a few seconds before clearing his throat. "They can't save them. Either of them." Joe quickly turned at looked at Wells. He looked at the man in the wheelchair somewhat cynically. Wells simply responded with, "But I can."

Something about this guy rubbed Joe the wrong way. He couldn't place his finger on it, but having been a detective for years, there was something not quite right about this guy. Joe took a step closer toward Wells. "I know who you are," he said. "You're the scientist Barry is obsessed with. The one who blew a hole in the city."

Wells bowed his head, taking in what Joe said for a moment. It wasn't like he hadn't heard it all before. No, in fact, Joe West's words were probably the most nicely phrased words he had heard in the last three weeks. But he wasn't to be deterred. "Harrison Wells and interestingly enough, my facility is the very place I would like to take both of them."

Joe scoffed and shook his head. "You're out of your goddamn mind."

"I'm not going to try and convince you with promises, Detective, but give me a chance."

"I think we all know what you're capable of, Doctor. You hurt a lot of good people that night. You hurt my family that night."

"So those doctors in there, they're good enough? Good enough for your family? They're the best in the city...hell, best in the country. But look at them. They have no clue what's going on and I think you can see that. They're baffled and the reason for that is what is happening inside Abbi and Barry is a mystery. They don't have the tools to solve it."

Joe closed his eyes for a moment and then looked at Wells again, trying to figure out what was best for his family. "But you do?" he questioned.

Wells gave a slight smile. "That's right. Millions of people used to look at my lab and what did they see? They saw the future. Let me take that technology, let me take that know-how and ensure that both your children actually have a future." There was a silence as Joe looked into the room. At this moment, it looked like neither Barry nor Abbi were even going to make it the night at the rate things were going.

Joe looked back at Wells and sighed and the man in the wheelchair continued, "Detective, let me save them. Let me save Abbi…" There was a slight pause, before he continued, "and her brother."

Tears stung at Joe's eyes. Despite whatever misgivings he felt toward the man who did all this, the man might very well be the only one who could fix it. It had been three weeks and so far there wasn't really any hope for either of the twins. They could barely keep them stable. It was an impossible situation, but he had to make the decision that gave the twins their best chance at survival. Joe rubbed at forehead in frustration before turning to Wells and saying, "Then save them."

The next morning. . .

Dr. Caitlin Snow stood in a white lab coat at S.T.A.R. labs in the temporary hospital room they had constructed hours before for the Allen twins. She stood there nervously tapping her foot. Dr. Wells had extended the invitation for the Allen twins to stay here, but Caitilin wasn't sure she was ready for this. It had only been three weeks since Ronnie. For a moment, she wondered why those two had been spared and yet Ronnie had been dealt such a cruel fate. But she quickly shook it off. She had taken an oath. If she couldn't help Ronnie, then surely she would do everything in her power to help S.T.A.R. Labs new patients...even if it was only for the distraction.

Dr. Wells wheeled into the room with Cisco Ramon following close behind, pushing one of the patient's beds into the room. "I think I need to work out more," Cisco grunted as he pushed Abbi Allen's bed into the room. "Or I could always wheel Sleeping Beauty around the lab."

"Sleeping Beauty?" Caitlin commented with an eyebrow raised.

"You know, cuz she's sleeping and pretty, like…"

"I understand the reference. So, what does that make you-one of the dwarves?"

Cisco rolled his eyes before he grinned. "I was thinking Prince Charming." He then puckered his lips and made two kissy noises.

Dr. Wells cleared his throat. "As-um-charming-as that may be, we need to make room for Mr. Allen." Cisco gave Dr. Wells a small salute before he ran back down the hallway to help Joe West move Barry into the makeshift room.

A few moments later, Barry was wheeled into the room with Joe doing most of the pushing. Caitlin pointed to the spot where Barry's bed should be positioned. Once Barry was in place, Joe folded his arms across his chest and looked at Caitlin and Cisco. "Who are these two?" he asked.

"This is Dr. Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon," Dr. Wells explained as he moved his chair a little closer toward Joe. "I've asked them to stay on and help me with Abbi and her brother." Joe raised an eyebrow skeptically. "They were the brightest minds at S.T.A.R. Labs, aside from myself. You can trust them."

Joe didn't say anything. Instead, he shuffled to the chair beside Abbi's bedside and sat down. Caitlin and Cisco both looked at Dr. Wells, who simply nodded his head and motioned with his hand that it was alright for them to leave. Dr. Wells then slowly approached Joe. For a moment, he said nothing. The two men just sat there in silence. "I-I've been through something similar-a life changing tragedy. And at some point, you have to ask yourself if this is what they would want you to be doing, if they knew what you were doing."

After scoffing a little, Joe shook his head. "Abbi always was better at moving on with things than the rest of us. She would tell me to get off my ass and keep living, but not in so many words. Man, the looks she can give can make a man fear for his life."

Dr. Wells seemed to nod his head knowingly. "Caitlin, Cisco, and I need to run some tests. Go home, Detective. Get some sleep. One of us will let you know if there is any change."

"Are you kicking me out, Dr. Wells?"

"Not in so many words."

Joe chuckled a little at his words. The faint sound of clicking heels caused Joe to turn his head to see Dr. Snow approaching with an extra blanket for Abbi. "You and your daughter are always welcome to visit," Caitlin said.

"So long as you're not in the way of us doing our work," Dr. Wells said before his chair swiveled and he wheeled himself out of the room. Joe shook his head. He certainly didn't understand the man whose hands he had just left his children in.

Caitlin placed the extra blanket over Abbi and looked at Joe. "We'll take good care of them. You have my word. But Dr. Wells was right. It would be best if you left for a while so we can run some tests."

Joe sighed and walked away. For a moment he stopped and looked over his shoulder. This better work.

Later that night . . .

Dr. Wells had sent Cisco and Caitlin home for the night, offering to take the overnight watch this time. Thankfully, Joe West had decided to spend the night in his own home. Now, he was alone. Alone with the Allen twins. Dr. Wells wheeled his chair to the computers and scanned all the security cameras to make sure he truly was alone with them. Realizing that he was, he pressed his hands against the desktop and pushed himself into a standing position.

Then slowly, he walked over to where the Allen twins slept. For a moment, he just stood there and watched them in their unconscious state. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of Barry Allen lying there. He looked so young. So, very young compared the memory seared into his brain. He then turned to look at Abbi and his expression softened. She too looked very young.

He then crossed the space between them, choosing to walk to Abbi's bedside first. "I never wanted to hurt you," Wells muttered. "You have to know that. You have to know that I wouldn't cause harm to you unless it were absolutely necessary. And it was...otherwise everything I know, everything I am, could cease to exist. I just wish it weren't a package deal...that I didn't need you both."

About eight months later . . .

Lady Gaga's Poker Face echoed in the Cortex as Cisco Ramon casually leaned against the desk eating Twizzlers and sang along to the music. Dr. Caitlin Snow walked swiftly into the room and rolled her eyes at Cisco. "What do you think you're doing?" Caitlin scoffed as she stepped over to Barry's bed.

"Awww, c'mon. He likes this song," Cisco argued.

"How could you possibly know that?"

"I checked his Facebook page. I mean, he can hear everything, right?"

Caitlin sighed, he did have a slight point there. "Auditory functions are the last sensory functions to degenerate."

Cisco looked over at Caitlin and smirked. She simply rolled her eyes as Cisco walked away, still eating his Twizzlers and singing along. Caitlin shook her head and walked over to the desk. Neither of them noticed the stream of red coming from Abbi's hand, swirling around her brother's head. Suddenly, Barry sitting straight up and gasped for air, the red mass was gone. Cisco was the first to turn around and he freaked out at the sight of Barry. "Oh. My. God."

"Where am I?" Barry questioned.

Caitlin was much calmer in the situation than Cisco. She simply looked over her shoulder from where she stood and said, "He's up."

Barry looked around the room frantically as Cisco called Dr. Wells. Caitlin quickly grabbed a light and began shining it in Barry's eyes. Eye function seemed normal. Heart rate seemed normal. But Barry was still freaking out. Cisco walked over and placed a hand on Barry's shoulder. "Whoa there. Relax. Everything's o.k., man. You're at S.T.A.R. Labs."

Cisco's words didn't really seem to help. Barry still looked just as confused. "S.T.A.R. Labs? Who are you?"

"You think we'd be used to it as many times as we've had to introduce ourselves," Cisco whispered to Caitlin before smiling at Barry while Caitlin used her otoscope to check out inside Barry's ears. "I'm Cisco Ramon. She's Caitlin...erm...Dr. Snow."

Caitlin then held up a cup to Barry. "I need you to urinate in this."

"Not this second," Cisco said pulling the cup from Caitlin's hands. Caitlin rolled her eyes before she huffed and folded her arms across his chest.

Barry continued to freak out. He seemed to have a million questions. He wanted to know what happened. Cisco explained that he had been struck by lightning. Barry didn't seem to accept this answer. He shook his head and turned around to see a six pack staring straight at him on the monitor. He then looked down before turning around with a freaked-out expression. Caitlin tried to calmly explain that his muscles should be atrophied, but instead they were regenerating. Barry opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't seem to formulate any words.

Cisco pulled him back so that he was sitting down on his bed. Barry ran his fingers through his hair. "Dude, you were in a coma," Cisco said.

"A coma? For how long?" Barry asked, his mind still racing a million miles a minute.

Caitlin and Cisco looked at each other, unsure of whether or not they should answer this question honestly. Neither of them responded, but a voice calmly said, "Nine months," from behind them. Dr. Wells entered the room with a slight smile on his face. "Welcome back, Mr. Allen."

Barry rubbed at his face. "I-I Abbi. She was there that night. What happened to Abbi?"

Caitlin and Cisco both turned to Dr. Wells, who simply nodded his head. Cisco and Caitlin slowly stepped apart. It was then that Barry realized what they had been hiding from him. Abbi lay on a bed beside his own. "Abbi," Barry's voice broke as he tripped over Cisco's foot on his way to her side. He took his sister's hand and squeezed it.

"Mr. Allen, we have much to discuss," Dr. Wells said. "Including your sister's condition."

Two months later. . .

Barry sat at his sister's beside, something he had become all too familiar with in the last two months. It had been two months since he had woken up, but no one could explain why she hadn't woken up. Everyone had hoped that Abbi would wake up soon after Barry, but two months later and nothing. Barry had always had his sister there with him. The last two months had been the most difficult of his life. Not because of his newfound powers, but because he was without his sister and partner in crime...not that they actually committed crimes.

Abbi lay there breathing peacefully. She really did look like Sleeping Beauty. Although, he would never admit that all the times she made him watch those Disney movies actually stuck with him. No, if she ever woke up, he'd blame the nickname on Cisco. Speaking of Cisco, he was at the desk slurping up a soda when Barry looked over his shoulder at him. "Hey, can I have a minute alone with her?"

"Yeah, man," Cisco responded before taking another slurp of his soda. He then left the room.

Barry took Abbi's small hand in his, as he had done countless times before, and looked at her. "Hey, Abbs," Barry said, his voice breaking a little. "You gotta wake up. I need you around here. Everything has changed. I mean, first of all, Iris is dating Detective Thawne. Of course, I already told you this, but I mean it's a big thing, right? You used to be the one I always talked to about Iris problems. I know I pretended that you didn't know, but I knew you knew."

Gently, he rubbed his thumb against the back of her hand. "And I-uh-I have powers. I can run really fast. You always used to be able to beat me when we raced, but I think next time we race I'm going to beat you. Again, I've told you all of this already. But I just figured that maybe something will jog your brain and you'll wake up. You know?"

"Let's see, what else can I tell you...that I've already told you. I'm not the only one with powers. There are bad guys out there. Clyde Mardon, remember him? Yeah, he could control the weather. Freaky. And-and there's this guy, Danton Black who can clone himself. Again, freaky. Uh-then there's Kyle Nimbus who can transform his body into gas. Don't worry, Cisco made the Nimbus/Harry Potter reference and joke for you. Cisco isn't a bad guy, he's one of the one's looking out for you. He's actually a pretty good guy. I think you'd like him."

"But I digress, back to the bad guys. Then there's Leonard Snart. He doesn't have powers, but he has a cryonic gun, that Cisco made, which works against me. You know-cold and speed? That kinda sucks. There was someone we thought was a bad guy. Her name was Bette Sans Souci and anything she touched turned into an explosive. Yeah, I made a King Midas reference in my head on that one because I knew you'd make a connection there. Turns out she wasn't a bad guy, she just couldn't control her abilities. We lost her."

"What else have you missed?" Barry sighed. "Oh yeah, remember Tony Woodward? Yeah, he's the guy who used to pick on me. Although, if I do remember correctly, you kicked him in the balls. You said it was an accident, but I never could tell whether you did it on purpose or not. Anyway, he can turn into steel. Not fun. He kidnapped Iris. Again, not fun. But things ended up alright in the end...at least, I think they did."

"So, here we are. We're all waiting for you to wake up, little sister." Barry paused before he shook his head. "Wishful thinking to hope you'd wake up and correct me, huh? But Abbs, you gotta wake up. Please, Abbi, wake up."

By this point, several tears streamed down Barry's cheeks. He had already lost his mother. His father was locked up. He couldn't lose Abbi too. He just couldn't.


	3. Power Outage

Barry Allen slumped into the chair beside his sister's bed. He folded his arms across his chest, his face sporting a pout. After a long sigh, Barry leaned forward and rubbed his face with his hands. To say that he was frustrated would have been an understatement. He was normal again. He had come face to face with a meta who had sapped him of everything. It felt like he had nothing left. At least when he had his speed, he was able to distract himself from how much his life sucked-but now...well, now it felt like he had nothing worth living for. Just Abbi, who still lay unconscious.

The faint clicking of heels caused Barry to turn his head to see Caitlin entering the room. Her face looked rather somber and it was obvious she forced a smile on her face. Barry cleared his throat. "Any changes? Any updates on Abbi?"

"Not since the last time you asked, Barry," Caitlin responded. "You would be the first person I would tell if Abbi's condition changed."

"Well, why hasn't it? Why hasn't she woken up yet? Is she just supposed to lay there for the rest of her life? Why can't you force her to wake up?"

"She's not ready yet."

"I'm getting really tired of hearing that. That's all you guys ever say about her-is that she isn't ready to wake up yet. Sometimes I can't help but wonder if maybe it's just that you guys aren't ready for her to wake up. That maybe you guys don't want her to wake up."

Caitlin looked rather offended as she leaned against the desk, carefully choosing the words that came out of her mouth. "You should know that I get it. If there was something I could do to magically wake her up, I would do it in a heartbeat because I don't want you to feel the pain I feel every day because of Ronnie. I would do everything in my power to save you from that and the fact that you don't know that hurts, Barry."

Barry groaned and rubbed his face. 'I'm such an ass."

'Yeah, you kinda were." Caitlin folded her arms over her chest, directing her glance at Barry who had since stood up. He turned to face her.

"I didn't even think…" Barry stopped himself. He tapped his fist against the side of his leg twice before looking Caitlin in the eyes. "Caitlin, I'm sorry."

Caitlin nodded her head. "Apology accepted. Now, can we talk about what's really bothering you right now? I know Abbi is one of the concerns on your plate, but I don't think it's the most pressing issue you have at the moment."

Barry sighed and turned toward his sister, pushing a stray tendril of hair from her face. He felt his throat constrict before he spoke. "Do you think I'll ever be him again?"

"Excuse me?" Caitlin questioned before she took several steps closer, stopping on the opposite side of Abbi's bed.

"The Flash. Do you think I'll ever be the Flash again?"

"I hope so. I really do."

"I didn't have my speed for very long, but now that it's gone, I feel like a part of me's gone too."

"And that compounded with no change in Abbi's condition-it's too much for anyone. But I think, either way, you're just Barry to Abbi-with or without your speed."

"But I'm not. I'm not the best version of myself. Abbi always knew that I could be better-that I could do better-and it kills me that she might never get to see me living up to the potential she always knew I could reach. It's funny, Abbi had little confidence in herself. I think she was too busy focusing her confidence on me, that she forgot about herself."

"Sounds like someone else I know." Caitlin raised an eyebrow at Barry, who simply shook his head.

"I love being The Flash. I love everything about it: The feeling of running hundreds of miles per hour, wind and power just rushing past my face, being able to help people. I'm not sure I can live without it, Caitlin." Caitlin reached her hand across the bed and gently touched Barry's arm. She gave him a gentle smile and Barry just nodded his head.

Cisco walked in with a bag of Skittles in one hand and a tablet in the other. "Well, well, if it isn't Snow White and her seven dwarves: Snow-y…" He pointed toward Caitlin and then to Barry. "Flash-y. Joe-y's probably at the police department, Wells-y is somewhere in the building and…" Cisco pointed to himself and hesitated. "Cisco-y? No. Huh. Well, I'll have to work on that one." He shoved the tablet under his arm and then popped a handful of Skittles into his mouth.

Caitlin removed her hand from Barry's arm and folded her arms defensively over her chest. "You do realize you only listed five dwarves, right?"

"It's a work in progress. I told you that."

"Is there a reason you're here, Cisco?" Barry asked as he shifted awkwardly before he sat back down in the chair next to Abbi's bed. He pointed toward Abbi. "I-uh, I just wanted to spend some time with my sister."

"Farooq Gibran," Cisco responded before popping another handful of Skittles into his mouth.

"What?"

"More of a who. He's the powers vampire who jacked your speed." Cisco grabbed the tablet and turned it for Barry and Caitlin to see. "I hacked into the surveillance footage from the Petersburg substation. Once I got his face, it was easy to find a match."

Barry reached over and grabbed the tablet. He slid his finger across the screen, reading one of the articles. Shaking his head, Barry said, "He climbed an electrical tower the night of the explosion."

"So then it's no surprise where his powers came from," Caitlin added.

"Skittles?" Cisco asked holding the bag out toward them, but before either Barry or Caitlin could decline, an alarm began to resound through S.T.A.R. Labs. Cisco muttered something under his breath before he ran across the room to the computer station. He pulled up the security cameras and found Farooq standing outside the building, snarling in anger. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me. This is not happening."

Caitlin and Barry quickly rushed behind Cisco to see for themselves. This definitely wasn't good. While Farooq's anger was directed at Wells, what he did next put them all at risk. On the security camera's they watched as Farooq walked over to the generator and began to drain it. The lights began to flicker and within seconds, S.T.A.R. Labs, as well as all of Central City, went completely black.

Cisco, Barry, and Caitlin stood there stunned. The silence was almost deafening when a high pitch beeping filled the void. "Abbi!" Caitlin gasped before pushing past the boys and toward Abbi. Barry's eyes widened in terror as he watched Caitlin frantically pushing buttons and muttering to herself. "Cisco!" she called. "We need that backup generator up now!"

"The computers are down," Cisco muttered as he tried pressing the buttons on the computers and pressing random buttons to get them to miraculously turn back on. "Dammit. I can't remotely access them."

"Then do it manually! Do it now, Cisco or we might…"

"Don't say it!" Barry hissed at Caitlin as Cisco ran from the room. Barry ran awkwardly over to his sister and reached for her hand while the machines continued to beep that they were no longer operational. "I thought there was supposed to be batteries in these things to keep them from doing this."

"He must've drained those too."

Barry ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "If I still had my speed…"

"Barry, feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to help your sister in this situation. Just make sure she's comfortable."

Barry sat on the side of his sister's bed and took her hand in his, holding onto it for dear life. He could tell from the look on Caitlin's face that Abbi's vital signs weren't appearing as they should. "Not like this Abbi. If there's one thing I get a say in, it's this. Don't you dare leave me."

"Cisco!" Caitlin shouted as loud as she could. A few seconds later, the backup generator kicked on. The lights in a portion of the Cortex flickered back and the machine's helping support Abbi's life whirred and beeped quietly. "Oh, thank god," Caitlin whispered leaning against the side rail of Abbi's bed. "Well, Cisco, technically. Thank Cisco."That was close."

"Too close." Barry shook his head. "He needs to feed. He needs more energy and he's going to come back. I can't let him do this to Abbi again. I need my powers back now."

After several minutes, Dr. Harrison Wells wheeled into the room. Barry immediately walked up to Dr. Wells and reiterated that he needed his powers back again. Wells pondered Barry's words for a moment and glanced at Barry before saying, "I have a theory. However, it is untested."

"I'm willing to roll the dice-for Abbi. Whatever I need to do to keep her safe."

Wells nodded his head and glanced over at Abbi before continuing his conversation with Barry. "Okay, you've lost your speed, yes, but nothing has changed inside you at a subatomic level. In other words, your cells are still primed."

Cisco's eyes lit up. "They just need a jumpstart," he translated more colloquially.

Processing the situation, Barry nodded his head in understanding. "Okay, how do we do that? How do we jumpstart me?"

"We need to replicate the initial jolt to your system," Wells stated matter-of-factly.

Doing the math in his head, Cisco started to shake his head. "But that would mean a peak current of at least 20,000 kilo-amps."

Caitlin shook her head. "Are you insane?" she scoffed. "That's more electricity than they give to people in the electric chair."

Anger flashed through Dr. Wells' eyes. "Caitlin, with Farooq in the building, we're all looking at a death sentence here." He then turned toward Barry who appeared less confident than he had moments before. "Especially Abbi, unable to defend herself," Wells added, knowing that the one sure-fire way to manipulate Barry was through his love for his sister. "Now, our biggest issue is that we need something that can transmit the load from the spare generator to Barry's body without shorting out."

"The treadmill," Cisco said nodding his head. "My baby could take the charge. But there's one minor difficulty."

"You mean besides Barry potentially being unable to handle the charge?" Caitlin stated sarcastically.

"Yeah," Cisco responded hesitantly, glancing at Barry. "My baby would need all the potential energy to recreate the initial jolt meaning…" Cisco stopped and looked over at Abbi. "You would need the electricity that's keeping Abbi's machines on."

"No. No way," Barry said shaking his head. "The whole reason for this is to help Abbi. I'm not going to do something that could jeopardize her condition."

"The machines have backup batteries," Dr. Wells said narrowing his eyes. "I would never put Abbi at risk."

"The backup batteries were already drained. The length of this conversation hasn't been long enough for them to recharge." Barry paced in front of the computer station for a moment. "Time," he muttered to himself before walking toward the exit.

"Where do you think you are going, Mr. Allen?" Wells hissed.

"To buy us some time," was all Barry said before disappearing around the corner.

Barry's attempt to talk to Farooq ended poorly. Part of Barry hoped that Farooq would come to see reason, but the anger inside of Farooq had overtaken him. He was too far gone for saving. Farooq tried to attack Barry once again, but he had just barely escaped and Cisco closed the security door between them. There was no knowing how long that would last. The only positive thing was that he had managed to buy a few more minutes for Abbi.

"Done being noble, Mr. Allen?" Dr. Wells questioned. Barry nodded his head, breathing heavily as he leaned against Caitlin. "Caitlin, get him to the treadmill."

Caitlin nodded her head before she placed Barry's arm around her neck and helped him stand. They began to walk down the corridor with Barry leaning heavily against her. A few moments later, Cisco caught up to them and he wrapped his arm around Barry to help even out the weight between the two of them, so they could move a little faster.

Once inside the Cortex, Barry sat down in one of the swivel chairs while Caitlin and Cisco went to work. "I'm not healing fast anymore," Barry groaned as he gripped at his sides.

"Don't worry," Caitlin said as she maneuvered the plug to the treadmill. "When Dr. Wells has a theory, he's usually right."

"But what is something happens to Abbi first?"

Cisco was at Abbi's bedside pressing buttons and squinting at the machine screens. "Speaking of Abbi," Cisco stated. "Thirteen minutes. Once I unplug her, we have thirteen minutes to get you back to normal and her plugged back in."

"Thirteen minutes, that's all?" Barry questioned.

"Dude, do you not understand how batteries work? They've been working double-time, trying to keep Abbi stable and trying to charge."

Barry groaned before slowly pulling himself onto his knees. "Set a timer. If something goes wrong and this isn't done in thirteen minutes, we forget about me and we plug Abbi back in. Do you hear me?" Cisco and Caitlin looked to each other panic-stricken. "Do you hear me?" Barry repeated.

"We hear you, Barry," Caitlin said.

"Cisco?"

For a moment, Cisco looked conflicted. Barry's request was in direct violation with what Dr. Wells had just asked of him. Barry repeated Cisco's name. Cisco sighed and tried to answer evasively. "Let's just make sure absolutely everything is ready before we do anything."

Once everything was in place, Cisco stood waiting next to Abbi's bedside while Caitlin and Barry stood in the room with the treadmill. "One...two...three!" Cisco quickly unpulled the plug to Abbi's machines. They began to beep frantically as Cisco raced to where Caitlin and Barry stood. "On the treadmill, now!" he shouted.

Barry limped onto the treadmill when a voice reverberated through the near silence. "Come out Wells. Come out, come out and play." Farooq was in the Cortex. Cisco ran over and pulled Barry down to the ground behind the treadmill. Caitlin ducked underneath the desk in the room.

"Abbi," Barry hissed trying to remove Cisco's weight from on top of him.

"You can't help her like this," Cisco whispered as he resituated himself on top of Barry, using his weight to keep his friend down. "Just stay down."

Meanwhile, Farooq took a few more steps into the Cortex, immediately noticing Abbi Allen lying there unconscious. He grinned mischievously. "Well, well, you're sure a pretty thing to have locked up in here. You must be pretty special to Dr. Wells if you're stored away in here. It's an eye for an eye, right?

Farooq slowly lowered his hands toward Abbi when suddenly a red barrier appeared. He couldn't touch her. Farooq shook his head and looked at his hands while the barrier disappeared. "What the hell?" This time he thrust his hands down forcefully, but the red barrier suddenly appeared again. He closed his eyes and tried to drain the barrier away, but it didn't work. Instead, a stream of red swirled up his arm. Farooq watched in terror as the red stream circled around his head when suddenly, he went into a daze. "These are not the droids I'm looking for," Farooq muttered in a monotone voice as the red stream continued to swirl around him.

The red stream then shot out and hovered midair toward the exit of the room. Farooq followed the stream out the room. Once he left, the red completely disappeared and Abbi lay there as her machines continued to beep.

Noting the odd silence, Cisco looked up from the place where he lay to find that Farooq had gone. He quickly rolled off Barry. The sounds of crashing echoed through the Cortex, but it seemed to be growing fainter with every crash. "We need to do this-and fast!"

"How much time is on the clock?" Barry asked.

"Never mind that. Get on the treadmill."

Barry stood tall and looked directly as Cisco. "I asked how much time was left, Cisco. I won't put Abbi in harm's way."

Caitlin suddenly stood up and reached for the timer on the desk. "Five minutes, Barry. We have five minutes."

Barry looked hesitant, but Cisco pushed him onto the treadmill. "If Jesus can turn water into wine, I think I can manage this in five minutes," Cisco muttered as Barry's feet hit the treadmill. He then turned toward Caitlin. "Now!" Cisco shouted.

Caitlin's hand hovered over the switch but she hesitated. She was frozen. Her eyes flickered toward Cisco and she shook her head. "I-I can't. If we turn this on, it could kill him." Cisco groaned and walked toward Caitlin, but she positioned herself between him and the switch and put her hands out to stop him. "I already lost someone I cared about in this building. I can't do it again."

"Caitlin, listen," Barry said leaning against the railing looking at her. "Someone once told me I was struck by that lightning for a reason-that it chose me. I'm not sure I believe it, but right now, it doesn't really matter what I believe. There's more than just my life at stake right now." Barry then gripped tightly to the handrailing. "What do you believe?"

Exhaling slowly, Caitlin numbly nodded her head before she turned toward the switch. She flipped it on and the electricity began to surge through Barry's body. Cisco and Caitlin had to turn away because the light was so bright. But soon the light left and Barry's body crashed against the wall. Cisco turned toward Caitlin, "Just so we're clear, I so could have taken you."

"Cisco," Caitlin groaned as she ran across the room to Barry and immediately began examining him. "My god, are you okay?" Barry pushed her off and leaned against the wall. Caitlin shook her head in a slightly disapproving manner.

"Abbi," Barry groaned.

Cisco walked up to him, "Already plugged back in. Now, the moment of truth: did it work?"

Barry focused on his hand. It began to move quickly, but that was it. Nothing more. Barry groaned and knocked his head against the wall behind him. "Dammit," he cursed.

Caitlin ran into the Cortex and then back to where Barry sat with a syringe and tourniquet. "I need to take your blood and figure out what happened," she said tying the tourniquet around Barry's arm before drawing the blood. Barry winced for a moment when a large crashing sound came again.

"What was that?" Barry asked as he pulled the needle from his arm and pressed his hand against the place where the blood had been drawn before he stood up and walked out of the Cortex.

"Barry!" Caitlin called and ran after him.

Cisco went back to Abbi's bedside to check and make sure everything was working as it should be. "You know," Cisco said to Abbi. "It's probably better that you're not awake for this. But someday when I write my autobiography, I'm putting in there that you slept through all of this."

A few minutes later, Caitlin came back in, holding tightly onto Barry before setting him down on the chair beside Abbi's bed. "I can't believe he's dead," Barry muttered."

"Dr. Wells?" Cisco questioned with his eyes wide.

"No, no, Tony Woodward," Barry groaned.

"He escaped from the pipeline," Caitlin reiterated.

"He must have got out when the blackout hit," Barry determined.

"Not possible," Cisco said shaking his head. "The pipeline was built to withstand a power outage. Someone had to have let him go."

They didn't have to dwell on the unlikely possibility long because Dr. Wells wheeled into the room and confessed, "I did. I released him."

Thus began a verbal sparring match between Barry and Dr. Wells. "Why?" Barry questioned. "Why release Tony?"

Dr. Wells shook his head as if the answer should be obvious. "To divert our intruder's attention while we worked to restore your speed."

Barry stared in disbelief for a moment. "You used him as a distraction?"

"An unnecessary one, as it turns out. It seems the plan has failed." Dr. Wells wheeled his chair to the computer systems and began to tap his fingers nervously against the desk.

Barry stood up from the chair he had been sitting in and walked over to the desk. He leaned against it, directly in front of Dr. Wells. He picked at his sweater and motioned for Dr. Wells to look at the blood staining it. "I... I have his blood on me. How could you do that?"

"You're showing a lot of sentiment for a man who tormented you as a child."

"Tony might have been a bully then and now, but he didn't deserve to die."

"Does Caitlin or Cisco or me or you? How about Abbi? I had a choice to make, him or us. I chose us without a second thought. I would have thought you'd appreciate that given the state of your sister."

Barry didn't agree with the Dr. Wells' tactics and Dr. Wells felt no remorse for what he had done. He had done it for the greater good. This wasn't something Barry could accept. "Well, all your talk about miracle cures and scientific breakthroughs, but you don't care about people at all," Barry hissed.

"Well, maybe you care too much, Barry. I know being a hero is important to you, and I respect your ideals. I just don't have the luxury of sharing them," Dr. Wells returned.

"I forgot. Your game's chess. We're all just pawns to you, right? So what's your move, doctor? Which one of us gets sacrificed next?"

Dr. Wells shook his head and wheeled himself away from the group. Barry slumped back in the chair beside Abbi's bed and folded his arms across his chest. It was clearly visible that he was pissed off. "Well, this is awkward," Cisco said to Caitlin.

Caitlin shook her head and walked over to the nearest microscope with the vial of Barry's blood she had taken, to examine it. Cisco nodded his head and then walked over to the computer control system and searched through the security feed for Farooq. He sighed when he spotted him. "Elvis has not left the building yet," Cisco groaned.

"We have to get out of the facility," Dr. Wells said, rejoining the group.

"He's on D level," Barry sighed depressively.

"Barry has a point," Caitlin said. "We'll never make it to the main entrance from here."

Cisco looked curiously at the computer before he began to scroll through blueprints of S.T.A.R. Labs. "What about the garage? The mobile lab van is in there," he suggested.

Dr. Wells nodded his head before looking at Barry. "As you said, Mr. Allen, it's my move, and I say we make a run for it."

Barry sat straight up. "What about Abbi? We can't just leave her."

"That's why we take her with us."

While Barry wanted it to be the best option, he looked at Caitlin skeptically-was it even a possibility? "Can this work?" he asked her.

"The machines should have enough juice until we get to the van," Caitlin said and Dr. Wells nodded in agreement. She was about to move to help with making Abbi more portable when Caitlin squeaked. "Barry! Look! Your cells, they're rapidly regenerating."

Barry's brow furrowed as he made sure the blanket around his sister was tucked in. "But I still don't have my speed."

Wells eyed Barry curiously. "It must be mental, not physical," he said.

"Ohhh-" Cisco chuckled as he placed one of the machines on the bed beside Abbi. "You have the yips."

"The whats?" Barry asked.

"The yips. I'll explain on the way. C'mon, I need your help pushing her." Barry nodded his head and began pushing Abbi's bed with Cisco. Caitlin and Dr. Wells followed behind them. As they pushed, Cisco explained the yips to Barry. "When a second baseman all of a sudden can't throw to first or a golfer tries to putt and they get all embarrassed and upset, and then that makes the yips worse, and it's a hot mess, and then they feel like even more of a failure."

"That's not helping," Barry groaned as he and Cisco maneuvered Abbi.

"Look, you asked Caitlin if she believed you were struck by lightning for a reason if you were chosen. I believe that and I'm pretty sure if your sister was awake she'd tell you the same thing. You should believe it."

When they got to the garage, Barry took off in an awkward sprint for the van while Cisco continued to wheel Abbi. As Barry tried to start the van, Cisco opened the back door. The machines helping stabilize Abbi stopped whirring and beeping. They were dead. Cisco's eyes widened in horror as the van refused to start. He turned to see Caitlin nearly crash into Dr. Wells, whose chair had stopped moving. "He's here," Dr. Wells said ominously.

Farooq blasted energy at the van. Sparks flew from it and Barry was ejected from inside. Cisco called Barry's name in distress before running to his friend's aid. But what Cisco didn't notice was that the surge of energy had caused Abbi's eyes to flutter open. She was awake.

Abbi slowly blinked and breathed in slowly, trying to process where she was. She didn't have a clue, but she heard someone shout her brother's name. Quickly, she began unhooking herself from the machines. As she tried to unhook herself, she could hear voices echoing in the garage. One she knew was Barry's, another voice sounded oddly familiar-but she hadn't a reason why, and there were two other voices she couldn't place.

Slowly, she placed her feet onto the solid ground. She stumbled to the ground her first step. But Abbi pushed herself back up and slowly began to walk. "Hello? Barry?" Abbi weakly called stepping into an open space. "Barry where are you?"

Cisco, Caitlin, Barry, and Dr. Wells' all appeared shocked by the sudden appearance of an upright Abbi Allen. "Abbi!" Barry called to her.

Farooq noticed the shock and then turned toward Abbi, who stood there in hospital clothes, shivering in her bare feet. He looked to Dr. Wells and then back to Abbi. "You know, I think this is even better. I'll make him watch what I do to you and then I'll do the same to him."

Dr. Wells eyes widened in horror. He couldn't let him kill Abbi Allen-it would be most detrimental. "Abigael, move!" Dr. Wells shouted.

Abbi's eyes widened in horror as Farooq took aim and fired at her. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Barry raced toward her. He had to save her. He couldn't let his sister die-not like this. Not when she had finally awoken. His speed picked up. He was going to make it. He stopped himself between Abbi and Farooq's streamlining bolts. Barry closed his eyes and embraced for impact.

But it never came. Barry opened his eyes to see a red shield encircling him and his sister...and it was coming from Abbi. His jaw dropped open as he faced the front again to watch the streaming bolts ricochet off the shield and hit Farooq. Farooq was then caught in a circuit of his own energy. The bolts bounced between him and the shield about half a dozen times before Abbi's shield dropped and Farooq's body sucked in the last bolt. Farooq stood there frozen for a moment before he toppled over to the ground-dead.

Barry turned back to look at his sister, who also fell to the floor. "Abbi!" Barry called before racing over to her. He cradled his sister in his arms, on the verge of tears. He rocked her back and forth, not realizing how quickly he was doing so.

"Barry, not so fast, you'll make me puke," Abbi groaned with her eyes clenched tightly shut.

He stopped rocking her. "You're alright?" he asked, choked up.

"Aside from the motion sickness, I think so," Abbi mumbled against Barry's chest.

Barry chuckled and smiled at his sister. He then looked to Cisco, Caitlin, and Dr. Wells. "She's alright!" he shouted. "She's awake! Abbi's awake!"

"You make it sound like I've been out for awhile." Abbi slowly sat up and pushed herself away from Barry.

"That's because you have been."

"How long?"

But Barry wasn't able to answer her question because Cisco came running up to her, quickly followed by Caitlin. "Oh. My. God." Cisco said with a grin. "That. Was. Awesome. That shield thing was so cool. I'm Cisco by the way. I was watching you while you were sleeping."

Abbi looked at him hesitantly before looking to Barry. "It's not as creepy as it sounds," Barry said with a laugh.

Caitlin immediately reached for Abbi's wrist to check her pulse. "We need to get you upstairs so we can run some tests," she said.

Abbi looked to Barry once again. "That's Dr. Caitlin Snow. She's a doctor." Abbi rolled her eyes which made Barry laugh again. She could have guessed as much, seeing as he called her Dr. "Abbs, I'm going to give you some advice. Just do what they say. It's much easier that way."

Caitlin and Cisco laughed. "Hey, where's Dr. Wells?" Cisco asked looking around the garage, but not seeing hide nor tail of the man behind S.T.A.R. Labs.

"He probably went back inside, like we should be doing," Caitlin said rather impatiently.

Barry took the hint and he picked his sister up so that she was standing upright. He grinned at her. "I promise, we'll take this slow."

Dr. Wells stood standing in his secret room. He drummed his fingers across the controls with a smile on his face.

"Good day, Dr. Wells," an automatic voice said.

"Yes, it is, Gideon," Wells said with a grin. "Bring up my log, please, new entry. It has now been 312 days since lightning struck. In the past 24 hours, subject has taken a great leap forward, causing me to revise my initial thesis. I thought... Well, I thought his attachment to people was a distraction slowing down his progress. Now I realize the opposite is true. Barry's attachment to people, the people he cares about, is actually the key to getting him up to speed. In the meantime, good news-Abigael is now awake.


	4. Long Time Gone

A few hours after she had awakened, Abbi lay restlessly in her bed at S.T.A.R. Labs. She adjusted the S.T.A.R. Labs sweatshirt and sweatpants she had been given. They were better than that blasted hospital gown. Especially with all the tests. Barry had been serious about all the tests. Dr. Snow was very strict about Abbi staying in bed unless she had to go to the bathroom and even then originally, she had wanted to keep the catheter in. No way in hell that was happening. Thankfully, Barry had been on her side on that issue.

But right now, Barry was gone. Apparently, there had been some sort of crisis at the police station while S.T.A.R. Labs was dealing with a crisis of their own and Abbi had woken up. Iris and Joe had been there when the ordeal had occurred, but they were both safe. They had ridden to the hospital with Detective Eddie Thawne, who was apparently Iris' boyfriend now...according to Barry.

Abbi wasn't sure what to believe anymore. It was kind of like information overload when they had gotten back inside and she couldn't quite remember everything she was told. About the only thing she was sure of was that Detective Pretty Boy was dating Iris and the only reason she trusted that was because of the look on Barry's face when he had told her. The Allen girl sighed in frustration and plopped back against her pillows.

At that moment, Cisco walked back into the room whistling the Dwarfs' Marching Song from Snow White. Abbi rolled her eyes when she recognized the song, but didn't say anything to him. He wheeled a tray to Abbi's bedside and grinned. "I figured you might be hungry. So, here we have our finest cuisine: Big Belly burger with fries and a chocolate milkshake. A salad, in case you're into the whole vegan/vegetarian thing. I wasn't exactly sure. And then brownie sundaes for dessert. So go on, dig in!"

Abbi blinked slowly at him, feeling slightly overwhelmed. But she eventually came to. "Dude, I don't even know you, but I'm pretty sure you just made a ranking in my top ten favorite people of all time," Abbi said, reaching for the Big Belly burger. She took a giant bite and closed her eyes to savor the flavors as she chewed. "Mmm..my god, better than sex."

Cisco raised an eyebrow at her curiously.

The Allen girl rolled her eyes. "What? I'm hungry. You can't hold a girl to what she says out of pure hunger. It's not fair or admissible in a court of law...or at least it should be." She then took another bite of her burger. Cisco smiled and pulled another burger out of the bag.

"Table for two?" he asked looking at her with puppy dog eyes that she couldn't resist even if she wanted to. Abbi nodded her head and Cisco pulled up a chair beside her. "So, I think we should come up with a name for you," he said casually as he took a bite out of his burger.

"She just woke up, Cisco," Dr. Snow said rolling her eyes as she walked back into the room. "Give the woman some time to adjust. Geez."

Cisco rolled his eyes. "Oh, c'mon, Caitlin. Don't be a party pooper. She needs a name!"

Abbi cleared her throat and looked at Cisco like he was crazy. "I already have a name. It's Abbi. Well, technically, Abigael...but everyone calls me Abbi."

"We know that," Cisco responded before shoving a fry into his mouth.

Caitlin smirked before she walked over to check Abbi's machines. Her heels clicked as she walked. "Oh, he knows that. He wants to pick out your superhero name."

"Or supervillain," Cisco added. "You know, depending which side she chooses. But you should come to the light side, we have cookies."

Abbi's brow furrowed. "I thought that was the dark side. Come to the dark side, we have cookies."

Cisco's eyes widened before he grinned. "And you just made my top ten favorite people of all time list." Abbi couldn't help but smile. She hadn't known this guy and already, she liked him. Well, liked him...not liked him.

Caitlin shook her head. "If you two are done dorking-out, Abbi, I'd like to talk about some of the test results." Abbi snatched a fry and nodded her head as she chewed it. Caitlin reached over and snuck a fry before she sat down on the edge of Abbi's bed. "Alright, so far what I can tell is that your molecular structure has been completely restructured."

"Barry was always the science geek. Is that good or bad?" Abbi asked.

"It could be neither or it could be both. It's going to take some more science and tests as well as trial and error until we get things settled. That being said, I've managed to isolate a few molecular changes that are similar to Barry's. For example, his glucose levels can get quite low if he doesn't eat enough."

"I might be wrong here, but if I'm remembering high school biology correctly, doesn't that go for everyone?"

"Yeah, that's true. But Barry has to eat a lot more for his metabolism to work correctly. I think the same goes for you when you use your powers. Now, you won't have to eat as much as Barry, but you'll still need to eat more than your average Homosapien."

Abbi grinned and snatched a handful of fries. "I can live with that. I've always been a foodie. Now I have an excuse to be one."

Just then, Dr. Wells rolled into the room. He stopped his chair at the end of Abbi's bed and watched her for a few moment. Abbi had to admit that there was something about him that creeped her out, but she didn't know what or why. What she did know was that Barry was obsessed with this guy, so she tried to force the thoughts to the back of her mind. "Salad?" Abbi asked Dr. Wells, awkwardly holding up the container toward him.

He shook his head. "No thank you, Abigael. Now, what I am interested in is how are you feeling?"

"Fine, I think," Abbi said with a shrug as she set the salad container on the table between her and Cisco.

"Good, that's good. On the chance that you suddenly start feeling that something's off, please be sure to inform me right away. I can't help you if I don't know you need help." Abbi nodded her head and Dr. Wells nodded his back. "Actually, on second thought Abigael, I will take that salad."

Abbi grabbed the salad container again before she crawled to the end of her bed and handed Dr. Wells the salad. He eagerly took it from her, but there was an awkward moment when Abbi didn't let go of the container. Instead, she scrutinized the man in front of her. There was something about him that she couldn't place her finger on. "I'll just take that," Dr. Wells said as he gave the salad container a tug and managed to get it from Abbi's grasp.

The Allen girl shook her head and moved to the head of her bed before she watched Dr. Wells roll out of the room. "Is he always that weird?" Abbi asked Cisco and Caitlin.

"Since the Accelerator Explosion? Yeah, he is," Caitlin sighed. "That night changed him."

"I guess it changed a lot of things."

"Yes, it did," Cisco said. He then eyed the near-empty container of fries on the table. There was one left. He looked at Abbi and smirked. "And I call dibs on the last fry!"

Cisco's hand reached to grab the fry. He almost had it in his hand when red mist shot from Abbi's outstretched hand. The red mist lifted the fry in midair and it hovered. Cisco, Abbi, and Caitlin all stared at the fry with wide eyes. "Dude, not fair," Cisco muttered. "I called it."

"I didn't mean to," Abbi frowned before she pulled her hand back and the red mist receded, causing the fry to fall back into the container. "I-I was just gonna race you for it."

Cisco noticed the disappointment in her voice. "No, it's totally cool, you got to it first! I was just referring to the powers versus no powers thing."

"But like she said, she didn't mean to," Caitlin added. "So, don't you worry Abbi, we'll help you work on harnessing and controlling your powers...and by we, I mean mainly Cisco."

"Yeah, it'll be a lot of fun. And to think it's all in the name of science...even better."

Abbi folded her arms across her chest. "And what if I can't do it? I'm sure Barry got it on his first try and then there'll be me, miserably failing."

Cisco looked at Caitlin and smiled before he leaned closer toward Abbi. "Don't tell him I told you this, but he overshot his first run."

"His third run," Caitlin reminisced.

"Fourth, seventh…" Cisco counted on his fingers. He licked ketchup off one of his fingers before he continued to muse. "Ninth...or was it tenth. No, ninth. No, tenth."

Suddenly, there was a rush of wind. Instinctively, Abbi hid behind her crossed arms while Cisco and Caitlin just sat there. Seeing Abbi still flinching, Cisco tapped her on the shoulder. She slowly lowered her arms to see her brother standing in front of her. "What were we talking about?" Barry asked.

Cisco and Abbi looked at each other, "Nothing!" they responded simultaneously.

Barry raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, not suspicious at all, guys," he responded sarcastically shaking his head. "Anyway, I gotta make this quick. Joe and Iris are on their way to come see Abbi and I kinda promised them that I'd keep an eye on Eddie for them while they were here."

Abbi coughed. "You? You're watching Iris' boyfriend? Iris, the girl you've been in love with since forever? That same Iris' boyfriend?"

"Abbi!" Barry hissed, folding his arms across his chest. "Why don't you just share that sensitive information with the whole world, why don't you?"

"First of all, that is what sisters do. You've been without one for too long now. Second, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out you have feelings for Iris and I'm guessing since Caitlin and Cisco are fairly intelligent human beings, they already know." Barry looked at Abbi with a narrowed gaze, but he sighed when he saw both Cisco and Caitlin nodding their heads.

"Just don't tell Iris."

"If that's what you want, bro."

Barry nodded his head. "It is. Now, for the real reason, I came here. There's another thing you can't tell Iris. You can't tell her about your powers. Joe doesn't want Iris getting dragged into all of this. He wants to keep her safe and so he thinks it's best if we don't say anything to her."

Abbi's brow furrowed and she bit her bottom lip. "C'mon, Abbs," Barry pleaded. Abbi refused to look at him because she already knew he was giving her, his sad puppy-dog look. So, just gave a nod of her head. "Thanks, Abbs. I'll come see you when I'm done babysitting Eddie, which I have to say I'm actually kinda looking forward to. He's high which should make things entertaining."

In another flash and a whirl of wind, Barry was gone. Abbi blinked several times trying to process the fact that her brother had just come and gone in a matter of no more than a few minutes. Abbi bit her bottom lip again and looked at Caitlin. "He was here, right? I wasn't making that up was I?"

Caitlin chuckled. "He was here. Don't worry, I've known Barry like this for a couple of months and there are still days when I ask myself the same thing."

Cisco stood up and gathered the garbage. "I'm gonna go get the ice cream for those brownie sundaes. Don't eat the brownies while I'm gone!" Cisco made a motion between his eyes and them with his fingers like he was watching them. He then left the room, walking backward to keep an eye on the girls.

When he was out of sight, Caitlin walked over and snatched a brownie. She took a big bite out of it and saw Abbi staring at her with a smirk on her face. "We'll just tell Cisco that it was for science." She wiped brownie crumbs from her face before motioning to the plate of brownies. "And since it's for science, we should have a control and variable group. It's only right."

"No arguments here," Abbi chuckled before she reached for a brownie. But before her hand could grab it. Red mist shot from her hands and encircled the brownie. "Dammit," Abbi groaned. "I've gotta stop doing that."

"Don't worry, Abbi. It will come. I promise. Cisco won't stop helping you until you've got it under control. He's a good guy like that."

A buzzing sound echoed through the room. Caitlin's heels clicked as she walked over to the computer control station. She nodded her head as she took another bite of her brownie. "Joe and Iris are here. I'm just gonna buzz them in really quick." Caitlin pressed a button. "I mean, Joe knows how to get in, but since he's with Iris…" she stopped mid sentence and then looked at Abbi. "I'll just go busy myself somewhere else, so you can have your reunion in private."

Caitlin slowly moved away when she quickly turned around and headed back toward Abbi. "One more brownie," she whispered as she snatched one. "Don't tell Cisco." Abbi grinned as Caitlin headed for the exit which Iris and Joe were entering. "Have fun!" Caitlin called before she disappeared.

Abbi smiled as Iris ran up to her and engulfed her in a hug. "Oh my God, I've missed you. Don't you dare do that to me ever again. Do you hear me? It's not fun being outnumbered by all the testosterone. Girl power all the way," Iris rambled as she hugged Abbi.

"I miss you too, I think," Abbi said, hardly able to breathe from being crushed by Iris' hug.

From the end of her bed, Joe smiled at his girls. "Let Abbi breathe, Iris," Joe chuckled.

Iris didn't want to let go just yet. "Just a little longer, Dad. I gotta make up for lost time here. Especially after the night we've had." Iris hugged Abbi for few more seconds and then slowly released her. "Tonight has just been the craziest night. We almost get killed and you wake up."

Abbi pulled a tendril of hair behind her ear. "Yeah, what happened to you?"

"Oh you know, just your usual psychopath out for revenge, shoots a cop, tries to kidnap the girl, but the girl ends up kicking his ass kind of story." Joe patted Iris' shoulder and Iris reached up and touched her father's hand. "Eddie's going to be okay, though, so that's good."

"Detective Pretty Boy, right? Barry said you're dating him. How did that happen?"

Iris slowly smiled. "Dad needed some shifts off to keep an eye on you and Barry and Eddie covered for him. I wanted to thank him for the kindness he had shown us, so I took him out for coffee and we just really hit it off and the rest is history."

While Abbi felt bad for her brother, looking at Iris, she looked genuinely happy and that made Abbi happy. Abbi reached out her hand and gave Iris' a squeeze. "I'm happy for you, Iris."

Iris squeezed Abbi's hand back. "And I'm happy you're awake."

"We both are," Joe added. "It hasn't been the same without you, Abbs. And not to lessen your miraculous awakening or anything, but that brownie is calling my name. Joe West! Joe West! I can hear it, how 'bout you?" Abbi and Iris laughed as Joe reached out and grabbed a brownie.

Joe was only a bite into his brownie when Cisco returned carrying three bowls of ice cream. He stood there with his mouth gaping open in horror. "What happened to my brownies?"

Abbi looked at Joe and then in the hallway, she could see Caitlin making a cutting motion against her throat with her hand. The Allen girl couldn't help but laugh before she told Cisco," Science. Science happened to them."

Joe shoved the entire brownie in his mouth and nodded his head. He turned to Cisco with the brownie in his cheek and said, "What Abbi said."

Cisco shook his head. "See if I share with any of you the next time I have brownies." He then walked away, still holding on to the three bowls of ice cream.

Abbi smiled as she watched Cisco walk away and Iris caught her watching him. Iris looked at Abbi knowingly and gave her a grin. "He's cute," Iris suggested.

The Allen girl's brow furrowed. "I thought you were seeing someone."

Iris laughed. "I am, but you're not."

"Honestly, I don't think I'll be dating anyone for a long time. I-I need to focus on getting better and readjusted to a world that moved on without me. My consulting business is shot to hell. I no longer have an apartment. I need to figure out what I want to do with my life...again."

Iris looked at Abbi sympathetically. "You could always just pick up the pieces."

But Abbi shook her head. "No, I think I'm working on a completely new puzzle now."

"If there's anything Dad or I can do, just let us know," Iris offered. Abbi just nodded her head knowing that she could ask if she needed to, but the problem was that she didn't know where to start.

Joe shuffled at the end of the bed. "Well, we can start by moving you back into the house when you're released from here. I mean, your boxes are already there. No sense in moving them again," he reasoned.

"I'd like that," Abbi said with a smile.

Iris' phone started to ring. She pulled it from her pocket and looked at it curiously. "It's Barry," she said rather solemnly. "It's probably about Eddie. I should answer it. Excuse me." Iris practically ran from the room and into the other to take the call.

Abbi looked up at Joe and smiled weakly. Joe grinned back at her. "What's a guy gotta do to get a hug around here?" he asked opening his arms before he enveloped Abbi in a hug.

"Wait for Iris to get a phone call apparently," Abbi joked as she hugged her foster father back. Slowly, Abbi released him. She sighed and asked, "How's my dad been?"

"He'll be better when he hears you're finally awake. He was really worried about you, Abbs. We all were. I'm pretty sure he considered a prison break to help you."

Abbi nodded her head. "That's my dad." She paused for a moment, looking at Joe. "And how's my other dad?"

Joe smiled warmly at his other daughter. "He's really missed you, kiddo. And he's worried about you." He looked over his shoulder to make sure Iris was in the other room. "How are you? Are you...are you like Barry?"

"Am I a speedster? No. I'm my own special brand of freak. Pretty sure Caitlin, Cisco, and Dr. Wells don't quite know what to make of me."

"What makes you say that?"

Abbi nodded toward the plate of brownies. There was one brownie left on the plate. She looked to make sure Iris wasn't watching them. She then thrust her hand forward like she had done before and the red mist shot from her hand. It encased the brownie, causing it to hover. She then quickly withdrew her hand and the brownie fell back onto the plate. "See? Freak?"

Joe mulled the situation over for a moment. "It's actually pretty cool, Abbs."

The Allen girl's brow furrowed. "What if I hurt someone? I-I can't control it."

"You will. You're Abbi Allen and I have faith in you."

"I forgot how motivational Joe West pep talks are." Abbi smiled gently.

Joe looked at her curiously. "You're not mocking me, are you?"

"No! I was being sincere. Honestly."

He laughed before he reached over and tousled Abbi's hair. "I was just teasing you, Abbi. I haven't been able to do that for a year. I've missed doing it." Joe looked over his shoulder once more. "One more question. Can you do anything else?"

Abbi shrugged her shoulders. "Dunno. I'm going to be testing my powers with Cisco at some point. But we can talk more later, Iris is coming back."

Iris walked back in carrying her phone in front of her with a huge grin on her face. "Oh my God, Barry butt dialed me and Eddie won't shut up. It's hilarious." Joe, Iris, and Abbi listened to Eddie's musings while high and Barry's occasional dejected interjection. It was quite hilarious.

Eventually, Joe and Iris left, leaving Abbi alone at S.T.A.R. Labs until Barry showed back up. He had promised to sleep in the chair until Abbi was able to go home, which should hopefully be soon. It was a long day and both Allen siblings easily fell asleep that night. They were both sound asleep that neither of them noticed Dr. Wells wheel into the room.

He stopped next to Barry's chair and his hand began to vibrate quickly. Slowly, his hand inched toward Barry. "If only I could," Wells mused looking at Barry. "If only my fate weren't tied to yours like it is Abigael's. So, for now, I will wait, Barry Allen. For now, I will wait."


	5. Learning the Skills

Abbi nervously sat in the Cortex waiting for Cisco, Caitlin, and Dr. Wells. Today was the day they were finally going to test her powers to see what exactly she was capable of. The thought of actually knowing what damage she could do terrified her. What if her powers were bad? Or what if they made her evil? Although the fact that she was fretting about these things should have helped soothe of conscious, but it didn't. So instead, she swiveled in a circle on the rolling chair like she was five.

A few moments later Cisco walked into the Cortex snacking on candy, as usual. Dr. Wells followed behind him on his electric wheelchair. Abbi gave an awkward wave and wiped the sweat off her hands before she stood up. "Hey," she squeaked, revealing her nervousness.

Dr. Wells glanced at her over his glasses before he said, "There's nothing to worry about, Abigael. It's just a few tests, nothing dangerous. You will be in very capable hands."

"I suppose it's a good thing I'm unemployed," Abbi joked awkwardly and was met with silence. "You know, 'cuz otherwise I might not have time for all of this. Although, unemployment does bring its challenges. I should get a job, shouldn't I? Am I allowed to have a job?"

"Abbi," Cisco chuckled. He stepped in front of her and rested his hands on her shoulders. He gave her a reassuring smile before he said, "One step at a time...you want some Sour Patch Kids?" Abbi gave a stifled chuckle at his pathetic attempt to calm her nerves before she nodded her head and stuck out her hand. Cisco dumped a handful of sour gummy bears into her hand and she slowly began to feast on them.

With her mouth full of gummy bears, Abbi asked, "So, what's first?"

"Well," said Caitlin as she walked into the Cortex, her heels clicking as she walked. "From what we've seen so far, we believe that your powers lie in the psionic spectrum. So Cisco and Dr. Wells have set up several tasks to test your abilities." Abbi nodded her head before she bit a gummy bear's head off. "We've already concluded that the mist you produce isn't radioactive…"

"You did? When?"

Caitlin's brow furrowed. "The last time we did testing. Were you not paying attention to what I was saying?"

Abbi shrugged. "Guess not."

"You are definitely related to your brother," Caitlin said shaking her head.

Cisco set half a dozen wooden blocks for children on the rolling metal cart in the center of the Cortex. He motioned for her to come over. So, she did. She stood there with her arms folded across her chest as she finished chewing the Sour Patch Kids in her mouth. Cisco then displayed the blocks to her like he was Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune and Abbi cocked an eyebrow. "What?"

"Make them move," he responded. Abbi flicked one of the blocks with her fingers and smirked. Cisco shook his head. "Ha. Ha. Very funny. I meant with your mind."

"You should have been more specific." Abbi then stood there and looked down at the blocks. "So, how do I do this? Do I say some magic words, like Wingardium Leviosa?"

Cisco raised one eyebrow. "I don't think you need to say any magic words."

Abbi looked at Cisco with puppy dog eyes. "But can I? I mean, because that would be really cool."

"Just focus on the blocks and clear your mind, Abigael," Dr. Wells said from his chair a few yards away.

She looked at him and gave him a smile. Abbi then leaned toward Cisco and whispered, "I'm gonna say it anyway." Cisco chuckled and shook his head as he popped a few more sour gummy bears into his mouth. He took a step away as Abbi raised her hands above the blocks. She cleared her mind and whispered in a British accent, "Wingardium Leviosa."

Red mist began to swirl from her hands and enclosed the blocks. Abbi slowly lifted her hands and the blocks began to hover in midair. Her eyes widened and her hands flew to her mouth in shock before the blocks clanged back on the metal cart. "Again, Abigael," Dr. Wells insisted. "This time, concentrate. I know you can do it."

Abbi thought Dr. Wells sounded a little too confident about her abilities, but she did it again. Again, she whispered the Harry Potter spell because it was catchy and then the mist shot out again. The blocks hovered in the air. She lifted her hands up and the blocks went toward the ceiling. She lowered her hands and they went toward the floor.

Dr. Wells leaned forward in his chair watching Abbi carefully. "Now, try spinning each block individually."

Abbi looked at the blocks hesitantly. "And how exactly would one do that?" she asked.

"Your fingers." That was all the information he gave her. It wasn't very helpful, but she held her hands out in front of her and then slowly began to move her fingers. She was surprised when Dr. Wells' theory worked and the blocks began to spin. This freaked her out a little. She closed her eyes and turned her hands too quickly causing the blocks to collide with each other. The force was too great that the blocks splintered and the pieces flew all over the room. Cisco and Caitlin ducked beneath the desk as Dr. Wells just shielded his face with his arms.

After a few moments, they slowly emerged from their defensive positions to find Abbi standing there rather sheepishly. "Oops," she said innocently.

Cisco chuckled and shook his head before he dumped more Sour Patch Kids in his mouth. "Telekinesis? Check," he said with his mouth full.

"You'll need to keep practicing, Abigael," Dr. Wells said rather flatly. "I'm sure in no time at all we'll eventually work our way up to molecules, particles, and physical forces."

Abbi looked at Dr. Wells like he was crazy before she glanced over at Cisco. Cisco nodded his head and then pointed at the computer screen. "It wasn't just the physical blocks you were able to manipulate, Abbi. You removed all motion and gravity from the blocks. Gravity is a physical force. We already know you're able to deal with kinetic energy, but I'm curious to see how you do with friction, pressure, and vectors."

The Allen's girl brow furrowed. She wasn't 100% sure what Cisco was talking about. Science had always been Barry's strong suit in school. But she just nodded her head, knowing there were still a lot more tests to get through. Cisco took a pen and tossed it at her. The pen smacked her in the shoulder. "Hey," Abbi hissed. "What was that for."

"You were supposed to block it with your kickass force-field," Cisco said as if it were obvious.

"Because it was that obvious," Abbi scoffed. She then turned to face Cisco and she motioned toward him with both hands. "I'm ready. Bring it."

"We already know you can do it when you're prepared, Abigael," Dr. Wells said. "We want to know your reaction time. Caitlin, how are her levels?"

Caitlin glanced up from the computer screen and answered, "Fine. Everything is fine."

Abbi looked at Dr. Wells curiously. "Is something wrong?" she asked. It wasn't until after Cisco threw another pen that she realized that Dr. Wells was trying to distract her. Thankfully, her reflexes were fast. She threw her arms down and a force-field appeared around her. The pen hit her shield and ricocheted down the hallway. Abbi then released her force-field and asked, 'Happy?"

Cisco nodded his head. "Psionic Force-Field Generation? Check."

But Dr. Wells decided to add his two cents again. "You will need to learn to be prepared for anything, Abigael. Anything can happen and we don't want you getting killed out there." Again, his words struck Abbi as odd, but she didn't say anything. She just let his words slide. Apparently, Dr. Wells was perpetually grumpy since the Particle Accelerator explosion.

An awkward silence came over the group, but Cisco happily broke it. "Now for the fun stuff," he said with a grin. "Follow me. I've been working on this since Abbi agreed to further testing." Cisco then stood up and walked out of the Cortex.

Abbi chased after him. "Technically, I never agreed to further testing. I was told that it was mandatory and I nodded my head."

Cisco chuckled. "Same difference."

Eventually, they walked into one of the former labs which had been repurposed. Targets, some stationary and some moving, were spread throughout the room. There was also a large circle in the middle of the room. "Cool, huh?" Cisco said proudly without even allowing time for anyone to respond. "Abbi, center circle, please."

Abbi walked to the circle as Dr. Wells and Caitlin entered the room. They went into a protected room with Cisco...just in case. She then stood in the center of the circle and folded her arms across her chest. "Now what?" she asked.

"Patience my young padawan," Cisco said coming through overhead speakers. Abbi rolled her eyes outwardly, but she was quite amused by his Star Wars reference. "Alright, next you're going to strike the stationary targets...with your powers."

"Got it," Abbi said. "Hey, Cisco?"

"Yeah?"

Abbi smirked. "Is there a Harry Potter spell for this?"

Cisco chuckled over the intercom before he responded, "Just go with Bombarda and we'll Google it later."

The Allen girl nodded her head and then her brow furrowed. "Hey, Dr. Wells?"

"Yes, Abigael?" His tone wasn't welcoming.

But she asked anyway. "How am I supposed to do this?"

There was a loud, rather exaggerated sigh before Dr. Wells responded, "Focus the energy between your hands and then direct the energy toward a target." Abbi nodded her head. While Dr. Wells was rather creepy, she was glad that his knowledge on metahumans was extensive. If it wasn't for him, she probably wouldn't have a clue what to do purposely do with her powers. It probably would all happen on accident.

Abbi tried to do as Dr. Wells said, but when a yellow streak of light raced across the room she lost concentration. Her hands accidentally directed the power downward and she felt herself slowly begin to rise off the floor. That only lasted a few seconds before she crashed to the ground hard. Oomph. Abbi looked up to see Barry standing in front of her with his arms folded across his chest.

"That. Was. Awesome," Cisco chuckled from the intercom. "Barry, dude, I hate to say it. But your sister is awesome. I mean, purely on a scientific level of course. Awesome."

Barry rolled his eyes before he reached his hand out to help his sister up. She accepted his hand and he helped her to her feet. "Thanks," Abbi said once she was back on her feet. She then punched her brother in the arm. "And that's for messing me up."

He rubbed his arm and then turned toward the room protecting Cisco, Caitlin, and Dr. Wells. "Guys, I think we have another meta on our hands," Barry said.

A few minutes later, the team was reassembled in the Cortex. Barry explained the most recent incident at the bank and that he thought a metahuman was behind it all, despite another Star Wars reference from Cisco. "Everyone in the bank went total savage," Barry said. "And then they were fine again."

"Anger can be a powerful emotion," Dr. Wells explained. "If this metahuman can engender irrational feelings of anger in his victims he can do a lot of damage."

"Detective West sent over a copy of the CAT scans the hospital did on everyone at the bank. Take a look," Caitlin said as she pulled the images up on the plasma screens.

Abbi looked at the brain scans thoughtfully. 'They're not supposed to look like that, I'm guessing."

"You'd be correct, Abigael," Dr. Wells responded. "The emotion centers of the brains are still showing signs of being overwhelmed."

"Particularly the area that controls executive function," Caitlin said.

"Yeah, that's bad," Abbi nodded. Even given her limited knowledge of the human brain, she knew that if a meta could control executive function this could escalate quickly for the worse.

Barry nodded his head. "How do you think the meta does it to them?" he asked.

"That's the half-a-million dollar question," Caitlin responded.

"Well, that's not the worst news. Detective Thawne is trying to start-up an anti-metahuman task force." There was a moment of silence between the team. Everyone kept their eyes on Barry, so one one noticed Dr. Wells rather negative reaction as his eyes widened and he reached for his heart.

"Couldn't that be a good thing?" Abbi asked rather innocently.

"No, definitely not a good thing," Dr. Wells responded. "The ramifications of such a task force could be detrimental. For one, we hardly know how to deal with metahumans. The police certainly won't have a clue what to do with them. Metas whether good or evil will be oppressed which could potentially lead to genocide."

Abbi wished she hadn't asked. She didn't necessarily think the task force was a good thing, to begin with, but she was trying to put a positive spin on it. Clearly, Dr. Wells didn't feel the same. "No positive spin on things got it."

An alarm began to ping on the computer. Cisco quickly sprinted over to the desk and pinpointed what set it off. "Guys, the police got a ping from the tracer in a stolen cash. SWAT team's closing in on the 1600 block of Pass."

Barry nodded his head. "On it."

He was about to race over to his Flash suit when Dr. Wells shocked everyone and said, "Take Abigael with you." Barry tripped over his own feet in shock and landed on the metal cart in the middle of the room.

"You want me to what?" Barry asked, not entirely sure he had heard Dr. Wells correctly.

He looked rather annoyed as he repeated, "Take Abigael with you."

Barry turned and looked at Abbi. She held her hands up in defense, trying to signal that this was in no way her idea. Barry then looked at Cisco and Caitlin. Both of them shook her heads. But before Barry could ask why Abbi beat him to it. "Why? I thought you thought that I sucked," Abbi said with a furrowed brow.

Dr. Wells shook his head. "No, I said you need more practice. That's what this is, practice. Besides, if Bivolo is able to control emotions, now would be the perfect time to test if your powers can combat that."

Barry shook his head. "She's not ready. She doesn't even have a suit."

"Actually, she does," Cisco responded rather sheepishly as he pressed a few keys on a keypad. "I probably got a little ahead of myself, but I was excited and I won't apologize for that." Another panel in the wall slid open to reveal a second compartment similar to the one that housed Barry's suit. "It's only a prototype. I kinda had to eyeball the measurements, but it's better than nothing."

"No," Barry said folding his arms across his chest stubbornly and Dr. Wells narrowed his eyes at the Allen boy's defiance.

It was Caitlin who proved to be the voice of reason. "Abbi, what do you think?" Caitlin asked the Allen girl.

Abbi was shocked to be asked her thoughts on the matter. She took a deep breath and looked around the room. Barry shook his head no. Dr. Wells's expression told her that the choice was obvious. Cisco grinned like a fool and Caitlin looked at her sympathetically. She needed to come up with a decision quickly. While she agreed with Barry that she wasn't ready yet, she knew that the only way to get ready was to practice. Dr. Wells was right, he was the expert on the matter. Besides, the only way to combat being evil was to be good. "Let's do this," she said. "It's now or never."

Once Abbi was changed, she found herself piggybacking on Barry toward the address Cisco had given them. It was rather strange to hear him through the earpiece in her ear, but she felt strangely at ease. But that feeling wouldn't last for long. Once they reached the building, Barry set her down outside. "Abbi, I'm sorry about this, but I don't think you're ready." He then raced inside the building, leaving her to get inside the old fashioned way.

Thankfully, he left a trail of lightning in his wake, which she followed. The trail led her downstairs to a creepy-ass basement. She saw a man with a gun pointed at Joe. She saw the shots fire before she saw Barry catch them and knock Joe to the floor. The meta then aimed the gun at the two of them. Her protective instincts kicked in as she threw her arms out and formed a protective barrier of red mist between her family and Bivolo.

After a few seconds, the red mist disappeared and Abbi fell to her knees breathing heavily and staring at the floor.. "That's twice now, I've saved your ass, Barry. Twice. Don't talk to me about not being ready. I don't think you were properly trained the first time you saved someone. Were you?"

But Barry didn't respond. Abbi looked up to see Barry helping Joe to his feet. Her eyes then glanced to Bivolo, who lay on the ground with two arrows sticking out of his body. Odd. She recalled a gun, but no arrows. She then looked at her brother in confusion. "Barry, where did the arrows come from?"

"Him," Barry said pointing to a dark corner of the room.

It took Abbi's eyes a second to adjust before she finally saw a hooded figure in the corner lowering his bow. "Nice mask, kid," the man said in a gravelly tone to Barry.

Abbi blinked twice in shock before she accidentally blurted out. "Hello, who the hell are you?"

Barry chuckled and walked toward his sister. He helped her to her feet and then wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulder. "Abbi, meet the Arrow."


End file.
